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Michael R. Fleming is Of Counsel to Irell & Manella LLP. Mr. Fleming is the former Chief Administrative Patent Judge of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

Since leaving the bench, Mr. Fleming has provided strategic advice and counsel to companies and universities in complex patent proceedings and has represented parties at the USPTO. He has handled or advised on matters involving all areas of post-grant proceedings, appeals and USPTO practices, with a primary focus on the new post-grant proceedings that were established by the America Invents Act (AIA). Additionally, Mr.Fleming has extensive experience advising clients in all areas of strategic patent prosecution and management. With his background in the PTO, his expertise extends to a wide range of technologies, including electrical, mechanical, chemical and life sciences fields. As a result of his work both on and off the bench, The National Law Journal named Mr. Fleming among the 2016 Intellectual Property Trailblazers.

Mr. Fleming's six-year tenure as Chief Judge capped more than 30 years with the USPTO, including 17 years as an Administrative Patent Judge and four years as a Supervisory Patent Examiner. While Chief Judge, he assisted Congress in drafting the post-grant provisions of the AIA. Mr. Fleming actively participated in establishing many of the present patent procedures and policies of the USPTO, including many of the PTO examination guidelines and the federal rules for Patent Office examination. He was awarded the Department of Commerce's prestigious Gold Medal for his work on the official examination guidelines for subject matter eligibility, which are critical to prosecuting high-tech patents.

Mr. Fleming was also responsible for many of the precedential opinions that are presently binding on Administrative Patent Judges of the PTAB. Moreover, he was responsible for establishing PTAB policy, internal procedures, rules, and precedential and informal opinions. This work included instituting the official standard operating procedure for issuing precedential opinions that establish binding precedent on issues before the Board and which aid in developing best examination practices.

From the beginning of his career as a Patent Examiner, and later as a Supervisory Patent Examiner, Mr. Fleming handled complex electrical and computer-related patents. Later, as Patent Judge, he decided cases in a wide range of technologies, including many in the electrical, mechanical, chemical, and life sciences fields.

In addition to his practice, Mr. Fleming serves on the National Advisory Council for George Washington University's School of Engineering and Applied Science, a recognized leader in innovation and collaborative engineering research. He is also a frequent speaker and publisher on patent law topics.

Ex parte Rodriguez, Appeal 2008-000693 (BPAI October 1, 2009) – Means plus function 35 U.S.C. § 112, sixth paragraph, elements in a claim must have corresponding structure described in the specification to meet the requirements of 35 U.S.C. § 112, second paragraph, and if where 35 U.S.C. § 112, sixth paragraph, do not apply to the function elements, then the elements do not meet the scope of enablement requirement of 35 U.S.C. § 112, first paragraph.

Ex parte Miyazaki, Appeal 2007-3300 (BPAI November 19, 2008) – Standard of review for indefiniteness at the USPTO under 35 U.S.C. § 112, second paragraph, is not insolvable ambiguous, but sufficient definiteness to give notice to the public.